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Article: Substantive due process claims in the land-use context: the need for a simple and intelligent standard of review.
- Article from:
- Environmental Law
- Article date:
- January 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When a municipal government denies a landowner's permit or zoning application, the landowner does not have a legitimate "takings" claim if the land is still economically viable. In this situation, an aggrieved landowner can bring a federal claim for violation of substantive due process under section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act for denial of her fundamental right to property. The federal circuits approach these claims in a variety of different ways, bug as illustrated by a recent Third Circuit decision, all the circuits are moving toward very strict standards of review that may eventually bar these cases entirely in federal court. Although federal courts' concerns of ...